Looking ahead: After CAA basketball tourney quarterfinal loss, Blue Hens must get better

One college basketball season ends.

In a matter of days, preparation for the next begins.

The transfer portal’s booming popularity has sped up that transition, being such a resource for teams needing an upgrade or having to replace lost assets. That list includes virtually everyone.

For Delaware, which ended a 19-14 season Sunday night in a CAA Tournament quarterfinal loss to Hofstra, that brings an immediate sense of urgency.

“We won 19 games,” eighth-year Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said afterward, “and we want to continue to advance in March and be able to win a regular-season championship and cut down nets in D.C.”

The 60-day portal window opens Monday, the day after the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket is announced.

HENS' SEASON ENDS: Delaware can't pull upset in CAA quarterfinals

Last year, the Blue Hens lost three players and gained six who entered and will no doubt be dipping into the portal’s supply aggressively again.

How much or how little remains to be seen. But the Blue Hens, who presently have two available scholarships, certainly need some additions. Here are five key topics looking toward 2024-25 as the offseason begins:

Keep your best player

Delaware lost its best player last year, first-team All-CAA guard Jameer Nelson Jr. He transferred to TCU, attracted by the higher level of competition and six-figure Name/Image/Likeness deals available for many players at Power Five – soon to be Power Four – schools.

The Blue Hens will hope Jyare Davis isn’t similarly tempted, because his return would greatly boost the Blue Hens’ potential.

Davis, the Sanford School graduate who transferred to Delaware after a year at Providence in which he did not play, was CAA Rookie of the Year in 2022, a third-team All-CAA pick last year and a second-team honoree this year. His 17.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game were slight improvements from the year before.

Returning for a final season and posting similar production would certainly leave Davis among the Blue Hens’ all-time greats. But Delaware does need to make improvements around him that would allow Davis’ skills to flourish even more.

Where does that begin?

Install a low-post stalwart

Delaware was fortunate to have La Salle transfer Christian Ray the past two seasons. The CAA Scholar Athlete of the Year, who plans to attend law school, was the CAA’s leading rebounder as a 6-foot-6 forward who frequently also brought the basketball upcourt and shot 58 percent. His versatility, leadership and diligence, much supplied out of sheer necessity, will be tough to replace.

Adding a more traditional low-post player in the mold of recent Blue Hen standouts Eric Carter and Dylan Painter would challenge opponents defensively and open up more offensive opportunities for Davis and other Blue Hens, especially on the perimeter. Those players are hard to find.Delaware does have incoming freshman Macon Emory, the 6-8 younger brother of present Hen Houston Emory. And 6-8 Gabe Moss, who has missed his first two college seasons due to knee trouble, remains a prospect capable of making major contributions when healthy.

“We need some size and physicality on the front line,” Ingelsby said.

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Add a point guard

North Dakota transfer Jalun Trent is the only other scholarship player besides Ray whose eligibility has run out.

This may also be a spot where Delaware seeks a savvy playmaker in the traditional point-guard mold, able to quarterback the team, get the basketball where it needs to be and also be a scoring threat.

“We need a point guard. We might need two points guards,” Ingelsby, the former Notre Dame point guard, said after praising Trent’s contributions.

Get better with what you have

That shouldn’t be a problem, as teams tend to improve the longer players are together. Delaware added six transfers last year and all, except Trent, can return.

Among that group, Florida transfer Niels Lane and former Pitt and Albany player Gerald Drumgoole Jr. were particularly impactful for the Hens this season – Lane as a defensive stopper and player able to get to the basket and Drumgoole as a scorer from the perimeter but also as a driver.

Delaware would greatly benefit from Lane continuing to evolve his offensive game. Drumgoole, a 37.3-percent 3-point shooter, and fellow perimeter players Cavan Reilly (37.8 percent on 3s) and Tyler Houser (34.1) must improve their aim.

The Hens would also benefit from a full season from Zion Bethea, who was limited to three games due to injuries.

Time to improve

Delaware was seeded No. 5 in this year’s CAA Tournament. Since sweeping the regular-season and tourney titles in 2014, Delaware has not been seeded higher than fifth in 10 CAA tournaments, though the Blue Hens did win the 2022 title and reached the 2019 and 2020 semifinals.That must begin to improve, especially with the Blue Hens’ final CAA season looming before their 2025-26 move to Conference USA.

According to NCAA NET and kenpom.com computer ratings, Delaware is presently the sixth best team in the 14-team CAA and would be the fifth best in what is now a 9-team CUSA.

The CAA has a stronger top, with four Top 125 teams compared to CUSA’s one. But the CAA is also much weaker at the bottom, with five teams below the worst-ranked CUSA squad.

That impending move to a conference covering a much wider geographic area allows Delaware to expand its typical Mid-Atlantic recruiting base, an opportunity Delaware cannot miss in its quest – and need – to be better.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware basketball must improve before last CAA season, CUSA move